The Republican journal., 1887-08-04
Pentagoet.

| from Isle to Isle, over the silent streams ot
calm Sea- So wrote the doughty old navic:t
| tor. Captain John Smith. more than two cen
turie> ago. and today write We rs. sailing
! ing across the same placid waters. we strive tc
| find some fitting words to express the lotus
| like peace ana beauty of this charming spot Il,
the entrance of Mainc's great river
TO the south we can look out TO sea Will
an almost unbrokcn horizon: towards the ca>i
rise the purple peaks Of Mount Desert.
Meath the MISUNDERSTANDING cyc
| 4 thousand wooded islands lie
Gems of waters with each hue
of brightness set in ort'..li'- bac"
Here and there a picturesque coaster glide,
| in and ont around the winding shores OF mar
row rApes. or dropping anchor in some shelter
| cal larbor. rests motionc-, upon the quiet
waters. Now aud then an osprey >tHrtlcs the
still atmo>p pere with harsh cry and >wi.rne
wings rs il sw"ops down upon it. unsilslcctin@
prey, and cl"tl'is Of mackcre gilis hover ince>-
| sanity around The sraWort-coVrrpl rocks.
The Camden Hills. with Mounts Nes,iut !
| cook and Baltic towering high above their sis
| ter pcah>. are bal seven miles distant. an.
seem even nearer throu4li the clear. trails i,al-
cnt atmosphere. Another Second. however.
and 1hr whole stolc changc*-a >.il.tlr breath
from the sea crccps in and around and over
everything. till suddenly our utmost horizon is
bounded by the breadth of or little boat. lci
even while we are watching the descent OF this
seemingly imlcmetrahle curtain Il bright shaft
from the setting sun >hvcr> the Veil OF mist
and We catch glimpse of some far-uf hillside
hathed i'll the wonderful golden light. l. il lho
common, everyday world wcarc lookin. upon.
oi is il the reflection Of q magic mirror held in
! Ill" hand of some great enrhantrcs~s
To This beautiful Penol>ot Bay the name of
Pcntagoct. or "eiltrancc 10 the river" was Civ
.,,l H,,,
probably corruption of the original Indian
name. Numerous variations are found i'll thr
spelling Of the word. lis Pcmcteguit. PcHc or
Pentagouett. P.Btagon.. rrmptoSoct. rcntH-
@ovett, Pcnaultkci. Pcnoh,cea+s, etc.
Champ lain who coa>trd along the shore, of
Maine in 1904. says:
'''ihc >ayaee> of this rlac'. having made ALL
anrt> with IL, guided lis 10 tn" river DE feln.-
,e-cnit >o-calied hy them. where they told Il,
HAT their capiaine. named BeS>abez, WAS
chief. believe that the river one that
many pilots and historians have called Noreni-
bcgue, and which the greater par! have written
of. it is large and spacious. with many island
ami its entrance l. in i3 drg>. and t. Il le->.
Of latitude. + They describe also a great
and very popnlous city OF natives. deXtcrous
aii'! skillful. having cotton cloth" Although
Cianll kahn doubts the existence of this ''Ll cal
and very popilous city, it i to he noted in
these ''AN> of controversy concerning III" actual
location of \orumbe@a. that he yivc> the
country place upon his map Of iGi2. spelling
it Norumbc@ue. and locating it in t,c ncighbor-
hood of the pcnobscoI. or Irnctr4"it Kiv.r.
In the ''tniver>ai History of the West H.
dies. l6G1, We read:
"NorEmbcga is known well enough by rca-
son of fair i0wn and 4 great river. though it
is not known from whence it has it, name. for
the Barharians do call it "A .\-gunrn.
sullivan SAYS of the inhabitants thu; .'tiicv
were supposed 10 be an ancient people who
lived on the river Penoh>rot. then ralci Pen
tegovett, near to which it was believed Il great
city called Norumbcga once stood"
Ogilby says that ''this riiy was nothing hu a
collection of wigwam> and called 'Arainbcck' :
An aged Indian of the Pcnobscot tribe who
Was living IN 1864, said that in the old time
there was a village Of that nl,l.c 1ar, of Bucks
port : " n Aramhcck'r" was VERY good Nor
umhe@a i'll his mouth.
Father Netromiie. in his little work entitled
The Ahenakis.' gives the ortho@r:lphy As
" "Noiulnbegil. and says it nieans "A st Ill water
place between the falls. oi which there are
several in the river pcnoh>cot.r
After the French and English occupancy of
the country the name 'Norumbr.sa' does moi
appear to have been much USED ., an apl,cu-
ton. the French calling the region bordering
upon Maine> grcat river "Pentagovt.' and
the English ''penob>cot," while both nations
designated the whole country ea>t-includng
Nova Scotia-;,> Acadia.
Returning 10 our first quoted historian, Cap
tam Joih NNtitii, We rCld-
"NorthWe>t OF Pcnph>t'ot is NecadiacIt
ltamdenl at the toptr OF a high motintainc, It
KIND OF fortrcs>e against the Tallrtntines. al
joining to the high mountaincS of PennobScot
against whose feet does beat the sea. j: r.
The bay is full of great islands. of one. two
>iN. eight or ten miles in length which divides
II INTO many 1alrc and excellent good harbours.
From the Pcnnohscot 10 Cape Cod.
some >eventic-liNe leagues by Il right line dis
tant from each other. | have seen at least
fortie several h;lhitaioE> upon the sea Coast.
and sounded about five and twenty good IIar-
bour>. III many whereof there is ANCHORAGE for
five hundred >air of SliippeS of any burden
some OF them for one thousand. and two hun
dred Hes, oNergrown will! good timber Of
divers sorts of wood. which doe make 50 MANY
harhour> as required longer time than | had
to be well observed"
These goolic harEurs are, at the present ,lay
one of the most striking features OF PenoI,scot
Bay. All along lis picturesque coast are numer-
Gus smaller coNc> that almost merit the name
of lnrbor>. As our little boat is Suon To ,lror
anchor in one of these let me give. lust here. /;
brief description of our beautiful island
which, from its shape well rs from lis posi-
ton, may well be called the key OF the whole
bay.
On The map YOU will find IT drnomnacd
Lon" Island. ana il forms an important part
OF the township of lslc>borough. which also
includes under is jurisdiction Il number of
smaller islands lying to The west and south
west. The town WAS INCORPORATED upon the
2Sth of January. l1S1. and was represented in
the General Court by certain Thomas Water
man, i'll the year 1920. Ii Includes AN area of
six Thousand acres and lis population in 1850
numbered Il little over twelve hundred Lon"
Island is between eleven and twelve miles IN
length. and averages about one mile in width
although in one place the land suddenly ,lal-
rows TO the breadth of not more than thirty
yards. and the road is houndcd on either side
10y the sparkling waters of the baN.
There is Somcihn. woidcrfull, cNhilalatnw
in Il brisk ride over this winding. picturesque
road. The air i like wine, AID M and down.
over many Il steep and rocky hill. throu.ll Ii
many Il hewil'i"rin@ maze Of color. YOU are
borne ai"h" as if IN a dream. Dazzling drifts
oi the oN-elcti i:l>N. cltiNnll- of the br. Int red
corncl berry and golden band, of the -tar-ikc
arnca plant border the road on either side.
and great banks Of ferns and wild roses crow
so close to the highway that suddenly. from
under the horses hoofS, you catch Il breath Of
their crushed fragrance.
Now the scene changes and dark wood, of
spruce and the odoroiIs hal-aln fir ntcrSperSed d
with slender white hrchc> and st:lw art hccches
and caks shut out the sunlight and hem YOU in
on every side. Clear and 1ule-like comes the
note of the hermit thrush from Tie ,ens, I'M
dcrbrusll. and weird and .host-likr sound, tho.
singing of the tides against the rocks thai; Won
cannot sec, though You know they are close at
hand.
Another turn of the road and The bro:,i, blue
waters of the bay are crcepin" close ,ip the
cmrvng shore till
son Il narrow neck OF land
'TwiNt tw" unhouncd seas you stand.''
And how wide the horizon that now stretches
out before the delighted eye.
There, slooniIy against the sky
The Dark Isles rear their submits high
And DcScr! Rock abrupt and bare
Lifts its gray turrets in the air,
Seen from ltar like some stronghold
Built by the ocean kings of old.
While wandering from its marshy feet
The broad Penobscot comes to meet
And mngc with its own bright bay
Now @listening church spire, like Il >hcp-
herds staff among the little farm-holSes. that
cluster about it like many sheep, peeps out
from among the trees, and soon the winding
road brings you to one of the thriving settle
ments upon the island. with its heteroc cneouS
store. its freshly painted schoolhouse, its sum-
| mcr hotel. and its blIsneSs-like wharf beape,l
| up with redolent mackere and fres-,lrad cod.
At the northern extremity of the island
| there is curious lock formation called from
| its peculiar shape Turtle Head" and all along
| the shore are many indications of the drift
| period and of strange uphcavals in the pre-
| historic ages
| At the southern extremity of Long Island
| the land rises to the height of some hundred
| feet. and juts out into the bay as bold prom
| ontory. This picturesque point, cOmprisin.
| 115 acres, was bought few years since bv Il
Boston gentleman for his summer residence
To this estate has since been added the adjacent
| islands of Spruce Tor Mno:'s), including
| twenty acres. and Jobs (incluljno Middle @,